Daddy
by Crystal di Angelo
Summary: I'm sorry! I uploaded the wrong document by mistake...thanks for the reviewers pointing it out! This is a retelling of the Kyoto arc with changes, focusing on the fatherly relationships and friendships. Enjoy!
1. Daddy

_Okay, first and foremost, hi to everyone! This idea was suggested by 27kirune12. I'm basing this off the manga, and it's actually just a retelling of parts of the Kyoto Arc with a few parts tweaked. Hope that you'll enjoy it! _

_PS: I was supposed to give it a, I dunno, manlier name? but I just decided to go with this instead._

_PPS: I know that you wanted more Rin whump but honestly, I can't bring myself to make him hurt himself more than he already did. I wanted to stop after his leg got torn apart, but then I remembered your request wanted more blood, so I made him hurt his arm too and I just can't-I had to stop. Sorry…_

_PPPS: This is just the first chapter, I was supposed to post it in a full one shot but then I'm going away for the weekend so a little something to leave you hanging XD_

* * *

_**Daddy**_

* * *

"Don't you be acting all fatherly!" Suguro Ryuji roared after the man he called his father as he turned, back bent, brow furrowed, an old man. "If you're going to brush this off without saying anything…"

"_You just don't want to play at being father anymore! Just admit it!" _Unshed tears, hidden lies, explanations to be made, holes in the heart-

"I'll never acknowledge you as my father, NEVER! Not until the day I die!" Ryuji screamed.

"_Don't you ever act like you're my father again!"_

The High Priest turned to go. "I must leave. Please pardon me…"

_No time, no time, I have to protect them, protect my __**son**__-_

Rin moved before he knew it, grabbing the High Priest's robe. "Hold it."

_No more regrets, no more love, Shiro bleeding out onto the floor, all his fault-_

"Why are you walking away? Aren't you Suguro's dad?" Rin asked, a note of pleading in his voice. _Don't let this end like it did with my dad last time, I must stop this, I have to stop this. I couldn't stop it last time, but I can't stop it __**this**__ time and damnit Suguro-_

"And." Rin turned towards Ryuji, then punching him in the face. "Suguro, you _bastard!_"

_I want my dad back more than anything, despite what I said to him. You have the chance to take it back so __**take. It. Back!**_

Priests moved to Ryuji's aid, some noting that something blue flashed before them during that nanosecond. Rin stood his ground, firm, unwavering. "I don't know the details," and he didn't need to, "But I'll say this, because I know you're going to regret it if I don't. Listen. Apologize to your dad! Do it while you can!"

_One more chance to fix things_

Ryuji was still fuming. "This has nothing to do with you! Shut the hell up!"

Rin got mad. "Don't cut off your father so _nonchalantly! He's your FATHER, _ DAMNIT!"

Flames burst out and ran wild, licking the floor as Rin yelled Ryuji's name and charged at him, as the familiar blue illuminated the walls of the temple for the second time in sixteen years. Ryuji could only stand and stare in shock.

"Stop it, Rin!" Shura yelled, pushing her way to the front. She was pretty sure that someone had tried to use the opportunity to grope her buttock but she could always chop him to pieces later.

Then Ryuji regained his senses and started to form a prayer, though he had absolutely no idea what could stop the blue flame, aka a raging mad son of Satan. He used the quickest chant he knew and actually managed to stop Rin in his tracks, though Rin pounded his fists on the barrier and glared at Ryuji through the barrier. Ryuji had _no _idea what set Rin off. A bad day? The fight between himself and his dad?

_But then, it's not any of his business. If anyone should be mad, it should be me._ Ryuji thought, strengthening the barrier and looking to the people beyond for help.

Then Rin smashed the barriers and grabbed Ryuji's collar. "I didn't freaking choose to be a son of Satan!" Was that a note of desperation? Longing? "But you…" _Fujimoto Shiro, loving father and honored priest._ "You're different! Aren't you?" _Don't walk down the same path I did, you still have the choice._

Juuzo came to Ryuji's rescue, leaping in between them and knocking Rin's hands off the rumpled collar. "Sorry for butting in." He looked apologetically at the still blazing Rin who was trying to pick himself up from the floor, but then his expression hardened. "Anyway, for now, please run." No one knew who those words were directed to. Rin, whom was likely to be executed now? Ryuji, who faced danger from the son of Satan?

_This boy…Renzo's friend…son of Satan?_ Juuzo's head was swimming. Before he could take any further action, Shura classified the situation as 'dangerous' and activated the bind on Rin's tail.

"UhgggGAHHH!" Rin collapsed to the ground, almost knocking himself out. Ryuji reached out a hand reflexively, then pulled it back. "Okumura?"

Shura took opportunity of Rin's weakened state and crouched down beside him. "Rin. _Rin. _Did you forget the conditions that were set at the trial? The next time you let out your flames and go wild, you will be executed. No sympathy, no trial. So you need to calm down."

"…this is important." Sweat trickled down Rin's face. "Get out of my way…ugly bitch."

Shura finished the mantra in response.

"GYAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rin's tortured screams began anew, and he finally fell unconscious.

* * *

"What happened to your face, Bon?" Shima half shrieked when Ryuji entered the room.

Ryuji pressed the cold cloth to the forming bruise. Damn, Okumura sure packed a hard punch. "The Right Eye has been stolen from the branch office." He chose to leave out Rin's fight with him and his own fight with his father. "Okumura has been detained. He let out his flames and everyone saw."

"_Eh?_" Of course everyone was shocked. Despite the fact that he was a son of Satan, Rin had acted so normal and cheerful that the sentence dangling over his head had slipped their minds completely.

"Then what's going to happen to Okumura-kun?" Konekomaru inquired.

"…I don't know."

"Umm…he's put himself in quite a spot, eh?" Shima said nervously, noting that Shiemi was starting to shake.

"…Rin…" Shiemi twisted her hands together.

The door opened.

"Yuki-chan?!" Shiemi's head shot up faster than everyone else's. "Is Rin okay? Where is he now? Are they going to kill him?"

Yukio didn't answer Shiemi's questions, facing Ryuji instead. "Nii-san doesn't know what he's doing. I apologize to you in his place for the time being." Yukio lowered his head, though his glasses flashed ominously. Ryuji could imagine Yukio dragging Rin and making Rin apologize to him properly by aiming a gun at Rin's back. But then Yukio lifted his head, and Ryuji saw aqua eyes laced with worry and tinged with a hint of bitter sadness.

"Sensei, there is no need to apologize. This is Rin's burden to bear, not yours." Konekomaru told Yukio.

"Yuki-chan! Just tell me if Rin's okay!" Shiemi's voice was rising in desperation.

"Sensei, is there any way Okumura can get out of this?" Shima asked. "I need him alive if I'm going to climb onto his top ten cool guys list!"

"Do you have any idea why Okumura acted the way he did?" Izumo cut across the rest of them. "We need to know what's more likely to set him off so one, we know his verbal weaknesses in battle, two, we can avoid sensitive topics, and three, for his own damn protection."

"…" Yukio looked at the ground, trying to decide how to phrase it best. Then he started.

"No one knows what happened on the night Father Fujimoto Shiro died. Only four people know exactly what transpired. The rest of us, we can only guess. Those four people are God himself, Satan, Father Fujimoto, and Rin himself. Rin doesn't talk about it. From what I've been able to deduce…

"Nii-san didn't know he was a demon for the past fifteen years. The day he found out, he was attacked by a gang that threatened his life and made Rin terrified enough to unleash his power. The leader of the gang turned out to be one of the Eight Hell Kings, Astaroth."

"The King of Rot." Izumo said, as if they were in a lesson. "Ghouls and Coal Tars are the most common demons under his domain. He also possesses an affinity for mushrooms."

Yukio hid a smile. "Very good, Kamiki-san. My brother met him in person and would be unlikely to be able to provide that much information."

Shima broke in. "Um, sensei, not to be rude, but isn't this kinda diverted from the main topic? We wanted to know what Rin doesn't like, so that we can avoid those in the future. So why are you sharing this with us? It sounds, I dunno, private?"

"If Yuki-chan wants to tell us, Yuki-chan must have his reasons! Let him finish!"

Yukio half-smiled at the blonde. So she still made the choice to stand by Rin. He was glad for his nii-san.

"Father Fujimoto, meanwhile, had discovered that the seal on the Koma sword sealing Rin's powers was starting to melt, and worried, went after Rin. He exorcised Astaroth-"

"Amazing!" Chimed Shima and Konekomaru.

"-and took Rin home, where he explained the best he could and told Rin to run to somewhere safer. Nii-san, being the idiot he is, refused to leave, and when Father Fujimoto insisted, he yelled at Father." Yukio lowered his eyes at that point. Never, once, had Rin repeated those words in his dreams. He'd yelled in fear, shock, defiance, sadness, begging, pleading, but never once had he said those mystery words that broke the wall. "Father…was the strongest Exorcist. Satan had craved his body for a long, long time. So when Rin yelled at him-his mental barriers broke down and-"

Yukio couldn't talk for a long time. Ryuji recalled his own words to his father.

_Don't you be acting all fatherly!_

_I will never acknowledge you as my father again!_

Then his voice turned into Rin's, laced with desperation and fear and doubt. He imagined the late Paladin collapsing to his knees, Rin screaming for help, Rin…crying…

_Apologize to your dad! Do it while you can!_

Because Okumura Rin already lost his chance once…

_He's your FATHER, damnit!_

And he didn't want Ryuji to go through the same pain and regret he did…

Yukio choked on his own tears, bringing the story to a sudden halt. "-and Father died. I arrived too late. I was too late, I couldn't help, I was supposed to protect them. Oh God, I was supposed to protect nii-san…and I didn't see the signs…Rin called Father 'daddy'. He called him daddy. He called him _daddy."_

Wordless, Izumo lowered her head, along with Konekomaru and Shima. Shiemi gave Yukio a gentle hug. Ryuji stared off into space.

_Daddy…_

"_Daddy, daddy, teach me that sutra! The Purifying Buddha Sutra!"_

"_Oh my, again? That's the fifth sutra this week! Ryuji is growing into a little genius!" Strong hands lifted him and spun the little boy around, giggling and laughing. "Very well!"_

"_Yay! Let's go, daddy!"_

_Daddy…_

An image of Rin flashed into his mind, Rin, clutching at a faceless, dead, bloodied body, screaming 'Daddy,' with tears streaming down his face, blue flames flickering around them, and he knows that its partly his fault that his father died.

_I didn't freaking choose to be the son of Satan!_

Daddy…

Miles away, Suguro Tatsumi tore up a mountain.

* * *

Ryuji was embarrassed.

Let it never be said that he had trouble remaining dry eyed after a teacher's tale about his brother, and the word 'daddy'…

Though you can be sure that Ryuji will never, _ever_ use that as teasing leverage over Okumura Rin, unless he had a death wish. If he _did _let it slip out accidentally, there would be four ways of dying. One, by Rin's hands. Two, by Yukio's hands. Three, Rin would look all hurt and somehow manage to soften up his heart and that would be the day Ryuji died. Four, suicide to avoid all of the above.

Shura entered the room, breaking their trains of thought. Everyone stood quickly, awaiting the news she was about to bring them. Izumo wondered why she was carrying a stack of clothes though. Shura and the image of the dutiful household wife washing clothes didn't really fit very well.

"Rin's been sentenced to execution for letting out his flames by the Vatican." She broke the grim news.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Shiemi and Ryuji. The rest of them, they'd expected this.

"Suguro-kun." Shura addressed Ryuji, holding out the Kurikura that housed Rin's flames. "I'm entrusting this to your care. Or rather, I'm entrusting it to you on behalf of Rin. And the letter your father left Rin, its contents informs us that Rin's power is necessary if we are to defeat the Impure King. Rin…" Shura smiled. "Is willing to help. So. The million dollar question. Will _you _help Rin?"

Shura met Shiemi's determined eyes and realized that a verbal answer was never needed. She threw down the stack of clothes she was carrying onto the floor. "Rin's execution in inevitable unless he does something meritorious. If you want to help him, take these camouflage ponchos. They should be able to camouflage you well enough for you to get past the guards and into Rin's solitary cell."

Someone knocked on the door. "Captain Kiragakure! Hurry up!"

Shura glanced towards the door before continuing in a more hurried tone. "I'm still under the employment of the Order, so I've gotta put up a convincing front. I'm counting on you guys, and so is Rin. I'm leaving everything to your judgment and discretion."

The knocking grew more urgent, and Shura gave them all one last look before disappearing through the door. "Coming~Nya, what's up?"

Ryuji grasped the letter in his hands. His father's styled writing, each brush and stroke carefully made, addressed to Okumura Rin. The smell of ink and paper was pleasant. The stack of clothes lay in the middle of their little group, untouched.

Shiemi grasped the first poncho. "Le-Let's all go to save Rin!"

Surprisingly, Shima was the voice of reason. "But if we go, that would be like we're waging war on the Vatican."

"Bu-But if we never get to see Rin again," Shiemi's decisiveness seemed to grow by the second. "I'm sure all of us-all of you will regret it!"

"…"

Never seeing that goofy smile again? That innocent soul, touched but uncorrupted by the world? The boy who cried, 'daddy,', never see him again?

Ryuji grabbed a poncho too. If Shiemi were go to alone, and he believed that the little blonde would do so if she had no other choice, she would get lost and most likely caught. She needed someone who knew the way. "The solitary cells are this way," he said, putting on the poncho, already taking off at a run.

"Bon?" Konekomaru said.

"Suguro-kun!" Shiemi smiled sweetly. They had the same smile, Ryuji realized. Shiemi and Rin. Both of them. "Thank you…"

Konekomaru muttered something under his breath, grabbing another poncho.

"Koneko-san? You're joking!"

"I've got to protect Bon…" Konekomaru didn't face him. "Besides, I know that I would regret it if I didn't…Shiemi-san was right."

"What the-aren't any of you scared of Juu-nii?" The idea of his big brother discovering them trying to sneak into the highly guarded solitary cells was terrifying at best.

Then Izumo walked past him to pick up another poncho.

"Ehh…? Izumo-chan, you too? What's wrong with you? You'll die!"

No one looked back.

They were all willing to take that risk.

* * *

Twenty minutes later…

"…is that a singing door?" Shima asked, rubbing his foot. The one troublesome thing that came with being invisible is that you couldn't see each other either, which meant lots of bumping into each other and stepping on feet.

"That's a raving mad door…guess we gotta fight it." Ryuji readied his prayer beads.

"Hehehehe…" The door cackled madly as everyone was frozen in their tracks, all except Shiemi.

"I can stop the movements of anyone who approaches me with a hostile intent! That's why I have such a strong defense!"

Ryuji's eyes would have widened at the new information, except that he was still frozen. As the door and Shiemi exchanged words, he practiced the deep breathing technique taught to him by his father to calm down. Then he intoned the words of the Merciful Buddha in his mind over and over again, willing his hostile intentness to disappear.

After what seemed like a century, Ryuji could move again. He laid Kurikura into Konekomaru's hands. He knew that Konekomaru distrusted Rin at first, but he was starting to see past the flames too. Not just _past_ the flames. It was accepting the flames as a part of Rin, coming to the realization that this was Rin's flames, not Satan's.

Shiemi had already disappeared into the door, and it automatically clanged shut after her. Hesitating, Ryuji opened the door too, and entered.

* * *

"Like hell I would die in a place like this!" Rin kicked another piece of junk away, letting out his fury. He panted furiously, looking around him at the endless wasteland. _What kind of stupid cell is this? _"As if I would die…"

_Die, huh._

He remembered Mephisto and Yukio's words. Neuhaus-sensei. Bon. Konekomaru. Shima. The terrified screams of people when they saw his blue flames. He'd tried so hard not to let those words haunt him back then, but they were bound to resurface sooner or later.

_You can obediently let the Order kill you, or hey! You can even kill yourself! So that makes it three options then!_

_Just die, please._

_What the hell is the son of Satan doing in True Cross?!_

_Why are you acting like nothing's wrong at all!_

_Satan's flames are evil, everyone knows that._

_There will be more, like me._

_Those flames killed my family! They took away all I had! My wife, my children…they all died screaming!_

Was Shiro's sacrifice really worth it…?

Maybe, for once in his life, Fujimoto Shiro had made the wrong choice in saving the son of Satan.

_I might actually hurt someone for once…I was always lucky before._

Maybe, Fujimoto Shiro's heart was just too kind.

_Wouldn't it be better, if I just…died?_

Maybe, Rin's only remaining job on Earth, was to rectify that mistake.

_Will I die without actually doing anything good?_

Rin collapsed to the ground. A sharp piece of metal pierced through his left thigh, sending a sharp bolt of pain through his body, and Rin jerked forward but made no sound.

_I wasn't even able to make my peace with everyone…_

Ruby red blood splattered the ground along with glistening, crystalline tears. His blood was red too, just like everyone else's.

_Why was I saved?_

"Old man, why was I…" Rin clenched his teeth, hands curling on the edge of the metal, yanking it out with nothing more than a hiss and more tears. "…why did you?"

He drew the metal across his left arm, spilling more blood. Blood that carried life. Life that his old man didn't have anymore.

"Tell me!" Rin's right hand was starting to bleed too. The wound on his leg was struggling to close, and growling in frustration, Rin dug the metal into his leg again, as if spilling more blood would give Shiro back his life. To exchange a life for a life. "Tell me!"

Rin tossed the metal aside, curled into a ball, and started to cry.

Blood mingled with tears that blew away in the wind.

_Tell me, why did you exchange your life for mine?_

_A life for a life._

_A saint for a sinner._

_Why?_

* * *

"Why the hell does this place have to be so big?" Ryuji roared, kicking away a piece of debris and barely avoiding stepping on a rusted nail. Damnit, this place is dangerous! The sky was a familiar blue, the bluest blue he had ever seen. A. Shiemi was a few yards in front of him, moving much more slowly and with more care, given that she wasn't kicking everything out of her way and just charging blindly forward like Ryuji.

"Oi, Moriyama! Wait up!"

Shiemi turned, surprised. "Suguro-kun? You came? But how? The door said that it would block all of you with hostile intents…"

"So I got rid of mine." Ryuji gave her the shortest answer possible, trying to ignore how her eyes sparkled.

"Wow, that's amazing! How do you do that? Of course, it's Suguro-kun, so I really shouldn't be surprised…"

Ryuji tried to ignore her, at least. But as the cute little blonde rambled on, he couldn't help but feel a blush creeping on his cheeks. She claimed that she was clueless about interacting with people, but her innocence and freely given praise made others comfortable around her. He understood why Rin treasured the girl so much.

_Why are you acting like everything's okay?_

Then again, when the sweet blonde got mad, it meant something pretty serious.

"Moriyama-san, how about I look on the left side and you on the right? We advance slowly. This place is big, so we need a few landmarks in case we get lost. How did a place like this form, anyway…?"

_Man's worst prison is within his own mind._

Ryuji's eyes widened. He scanned the dry desert land littered with useless rubbish.

Was this…a reflection of Rin's mind?

Shiemi spotted Rin first. Or rather, she saw the first clue that led them to Rin. She yelped when she first saw it.

"…blood…?!"

Then she took off in a run at the general direction. Ryuji followed, trying to imagine the various scenarios that could make Rin bleed onto the ground.

_Maybe the idiot wasn't looking and stepped on a nail…or he fell, or he got a nosebleed, anyone would in this stupid hot weather._

"Rin!"

"Okumura! Oi! Idiot! Monkey!"

"Rin! Rin! _Rin! _Are you okay?"

Rin lifted his face, streaked with tears and dirt only to stare in surprise at the two newcomers. Shiemi had already knelt down beside the boy, one gentle hand placed on his arm, whether to give him comfort or to keep him in place Ryuji didn't know. Ryuji stood in front of the half-demon who had his knees pulled to his chest, casting a shadow over the boy. Rin was just so…_small._ Terrified wide eyes looked up at him, and Rin started to back away with his hands, biting his lip and more tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, from…fear? Sadness?

…pain?

"Okumura…what did you do?"

"Rin! What did you do to your leg?"

They noticed the gaping wound at the same time. There was a thick scar like a worm on Rin's left arm, and blood still stained his right palm. But the wound in his thigh…Ryuji could see a flash of bone, and muscle and tissue, blood and fabric were all mixed together.

Shiemi didn't wait for an answer, instead ordering Rin to relax his muscles and got some kind of sweet smelling flower from her summon. "Smell this." She ordered. "It'll lessen the pain. I'm going to pull the fabric away and clean the wound properly, okay?"

Rin nodded, barely perceptive.

As Shiemi worked to clean up the mess Rin somehow managed to make in a barren wasteland, Ryuji knelt down beside Rin as well, frowning at the vacant look he had adopted. His right hand was shaking as he held the flower.

"Oi, Okumura."

Rin flinched.

"…I want to thank you." Ryuji didn't know what else to say. "When I was fighting with my dad…you tried to stop me. Thanks for that."

"…but you were mad." Rin whispered, jolting as Shiemi's deft fingers started wiping the juice of another herb across the wound. It stung a little. "You were really mad, and, I thought what happened to the old geezer would happen again, so I tried…but the old geezer…he shouldn't have died…"

By the 'old geezer' Ryuji assumed that he was referring to the late Fujimoto Shiro. "Yeah, I was mad, because I didn't know anything then. I was stupid, and you saw it. Thanks."

"But you would have understood anyway. You're clever, you'll figure it out. Not like me, I was stupid, I didn't see…I couldn't control myself, I just yelled. It took for him to die for me to finally understand and he really shouldn't have done it…it was like he just traded himself for stupid old me." Rin looked up to the sky. Ryuji realized that the sky was the exact shade of blue Rin's eyes were. "He never did tell me why…"

Ryuji was silent for a few seconds.

"I don't think Rin is stupid." Shiemi finally looked up, determination shining through her like a candle. "I think Rin is an idiot sometimes, and I'm still a little angry at you for keeping it a secret, but it's okay, Rin. It's okay. I got angry at my mother too, and Rin fixed it. Suguro-kun got angry at his father, and Rin fixed it too."

Ryuji decided that, if for nothing other than Rin's sake, he was going to make up with his dad. But not just for Rin either, he realized. For his dad, his mom, for…himself.

Rin smiled.

The wind blowing stopped, and the debris cleared. One straight, shining path led towards the door.

Shiemi finished winding the bandage around Rin's thigh. "Can you stand?" She asked worriedly. "I don't know if I did a good enough job, but it should hold…"

Gingerly, Rin stood, supported by Ryuji. He flashed his brightest smile at Shiemi. "You did a good job! I can barely feel anything!"

Shiemi slipped under Rin's left arm.

Right arm around Suguro Ryuji, left arm around Moriyama Shiemi, his _friends, _whom he actually _helped,_ Okumura Rin slowly limped towards freedom.

_And maybe a whole new understanding._

* * *

"…"

Bubbles, tentacles, or whatever you call them strange gooey stuff otherwise named miasma was sprouting everywhere. Literally.

A bubble spouted a glob of miasma which brushed past a tree-ten seconds later the tree wilted. Even the ground was covered in it, choking every blade of grass and every little flower. It was spreading, fast, and it was already the size of a tiny forest. An archway was starting to rise from all the goo.

Nope. Not gonna think about what it would be like at full power.

The Exwires sprinted through the forest on a rapidly closing path towards the forest.

"What the _hell_ is that? How the hell are we supposed to defeat something that large?! Is this the apocalypse or what?" Shima yelped, running as the last one. Rin, fueled by adrenaline and the desire to not weigh down the others, was running at full speed behind Ryuji, who led the way. Shiemi was behind Rin, looking worriedly at the random blood splatters on the ground while following the brunette doggedly.

Ryuji wiped some sweat from his forehead. When had he started to take such short breaths? Damnit, all his morning exercise regimens seem to have gone to waste. He was really tired too. "Okay! This is where we start searching. Don't go too deep into the thicket."

"Okay!"

"Got it!"

They spread out a little and started to search. Rin limped along, the steep mountainside starting to prove a challenge for his leg, and it really frustrated Rin that the wound still wasn't closing. Shiemi looked ready to let her motherly instincts take over and tell Rin to lie down. All that walking wasn't doing any good for the wound. If not for Rin's demonic healing abilities, which were already almost stretched to the limit, Shiemi suspected that the wound would have torn apart even further and maybe even cause permanent damage to the muscles.

To their left, Ryuji was ignoring his own advice, crashing through the thicket.

_Please, give me a chance to rectify my thoughtless words…_

Izumo saw something and gasped. Ryuji turned.

_I'm sorry, I really am…_

"DADDY!"

Not caring that the rest of his friends froze in momentary shock at the term he used to call his father, Ryuji rushed to his father's side.

"_Daddy, look!"_

"…_oh my, Ryuji, those robes aren't for you yet."_

"…_huh…"_

"_You do look very handsome in them though. My young little high priest~!"_

Blood stained the once holy and pure robes. Light orange flames illuminated them.

Wait…where did the flames come from?

More flames erupted from Suguro Tatsuma's body and finally took form. _I am Karura. Servant of the Head Priest of the Myoudha Dharani. _

"The Head Priest's familiar?" Izumo identified the flaming bird.

_Formerly so, now no more, as the secret no longer remains as such. I am now fulfilling the private, individual contract that binds both Suguro Tatsuma and I._

The High Priest shuddered at the mention of his name and more blood bubbled up from his mouth as he coughed. "I…Ryuji…? Why are you…all the children here? Reckless children…you have always been so, Ryuji."

_Your wounds may have closed, but you can't move just yet, Tatsuma. _Karura advised.

"Karura? You sure have gotten small…I thought we were both dead…" Tatsuma smiled tiredly. Ryuji's heart shuddered. Had his father come that close to having Ryuji's last words to him being about disowning him as his father?

_I am also a phoenix. I would just reincarnate if I died. Besides, I still have one last contract left with you. I can't just let you die like that. _Karura's words bore a tone of bored amusement.

Tatsuma's eyes roved over the group, until he finally found Rin within his blurry vision. "Ah…Okumura-kun…! Did you read my letter before coming here?" He frowned as he noted that Rin looked a little worse for wear. The boy must have taken quite a beating to get here. A silver of guilt ran though him before he shook it away. Okumura Rin was the son of Satan, and if he were to try to coexist with humans this can't be avoided.

Rin nodded. Shiemi couldn't take it anymore and gently pressed Rin down onto a flat rock. They were still high enough in the mountains, a part where the miasma hadn't touched yet.

"I read it too." Ryuji informed his father.

"What?"

"All of us came here with a rough understanding of the situation. Please tell us everything. No secrets."

"No secrets. Understood." Tatsuma smiled. This, he could do. "I will tell you how to defeat the Impure King. There is a scroll. Passed down from Head Priest to Head Priest. The Impure King can and will continue growing…until it is as big as a city."

"_City?!_" Everyone choked on their saliva.

"Shortly after, a big sporangium will form within it. When it matures, it will rupture and release lots of toxic spores, a thick miasma. One hundred and fifty years ago, forty thousand people were killed during the rupture. Now…the number would be even greater. We have to prevent that."

Shima pointed upwards, at the round structure rising from the goop. "Is that the sporangium?"

"Yes."

"So we just have to defeat it before the sporangium ruptures, right?" Ryuji confirmed.

"It isn't that simple." If only it could be. "The Impure King only has one known vital spot, known as the heart. It's located within the sporangium itself. Fukaku, the great warrior who fought the Impure King one hundred and fifty years before, had split the heart into two and sealed it away."

Something clicked into place. "And those pieces…the left and right eyes?" Izumo asked.

Konekomaru saw something even worse. "But that means…if we don't get to the heart before the sporangium ruptures, we will never be able to get at the heart, right?"

"Yes." He then proceeded to explain how his contract with Karura had been to transfer his living years into flame, and burn away the Impure King. How he planned on sacrificing himself to set up a barrier. How he wanted Rin to burn down the Impure King.

Rin looked down, clasping his hands together around the hilt of his sword. "…I…I'm sorry…"

Tatsuma sighed wearily but in understanding. "It's natural. I'm asking you to put your life on the line here." The boy was looking paler by the second, and maybe Tatsuma should just lay off him. He's Ryuji's age, and whenever he looked at his son, he remembered the little boy who laughed while calling 'Daddy, daddy!'. _So young, the two of them…this is a great burden to bear. I shouldn't…_

"No, it's not that. It's just…right now I can't seem to unsheathe my sword…" Rin answered a little sheepishly.

"…_eh?!_"

"I've been trying to get it out of the damned scabbard since just now, but I just can't." Rin pouted, struggling with the sword once more. "I don't really get it, but seems to be some kind of psychological problem?"

"Huh? The hell-Really?"

"I'm worried too…but I can't do anything about it either. I'm really sorry, Suguro's dad!" Rin bowed a little.

"I see…that's worrying too." Psychological problem? _Psychological problem?_ Was it possible that the boy's subconscious had deemed his flames too dangerous and plain refused to let them out? "If so…at least, I'll do what's possible to protect the people here!" He started to get up.

_Impossible, Tatsuma. You have lost too much blood._

He collapsed a brief second of thinking that he might just be able to do it after all.

_You have lost too much blood._ Karura repeated, frustrated. Stubborn men, all of them. _If you chant the Kekkai spell like that you will surely die._

"I just need to hold out for a short while!" He countered. "Just enough time for them to get away…My life isn't the only one that's in the balance here!"

"Dad, isn't anything else we can do? Anything else other than this?" Ryuji asked desperately. "There _has_ to be something!"

_You are Tatsuma's son, aren't you? Good. The Gouhaen…it can be transferred. But only between people related by blood._ Karura offered the alternative which Tatsuma had been withholding. With good reason, too.

"NO! This…Ryuji is still a child! He should not be involved in this! I will cut these ties within my generation, and allow it to pass no further! I swore that upon my life!"

_I understand now. Why he always kept his distance…telling me to call you father instead after a couple of years…daddy…bearing that cross on your back all alone…_

"Hah…what are you talking about?" Ryuji had spoken aloud and Tatsuma understood exactly what he son was trying to convey, but feigned ignorance instead. "I did all of that of my own will, and what more, I am dying now, might as well finish the job."

"I won't allow it! Let me take that cross too-Don't stop me! I've learned…sons are meant to be their fathers' crutches, aren't they?"

Tatsuma looked firmly at Ryuji. "No." Clear and firm.

_Tatsuma, you know your son is smarter than you are._

"And that is precisely why I didn't want to involve him! No, Ryuji. As your father, I forbid you from doing this." Tatsuma made to stand again.

"Not this again. Please." A soft, broken voice drifted over the squelching sounds of the miasma and the slight crackle of Karura's flames.

_He is __**my**__ son, and I'm taking him back!_

Tatsuma squinted over at Rin. "I'm sorry…but I love my son. I can't allow him to do this."

Rin looked up, blue eyes intense. "And what about the son's feelings? I'm a son! I have-had a dad! Someone I used to call daddy! And no, it's not that flaming creep, but my _real_ dad. I know why my dad did what he did, but please…think of your son. He'll probably blame himself for your death for the rest of his life, like the idiot he is, even though he isn't really responsible for it. He'll have sadness eating away at him for the rest of his life! He'll probably have to dye his hair black again to mourn properly-every Father's Day he will spend the day talking to a cold slab of stone! I've been through it, I should know!"

Tatsuma lowered his head. The flames continued to crackle. Flames that could burn away one's life. Izumo didn't even 'tch'. Shima's expression was strangely somber. Shiemi looked worried but didn't dare to move. Konekomaru's phone continued to beep as there was no signal but he made no move to shut it. Ryuji bit his lip and waited.

Unspoken permission was given.

_Well, I shall then commence the succession of the Gouhaen. He who is of the blood of the current owner Suguro Tatsuma, show proof of your lineage. _

Seeing no other alternative sharp object other than Rin's sealed sword, which lay beside its overly bright-eyed owner, he bit into his finger. Flames swarmed around the wound immediately, startling him, but Ryuji held his ground.

_You are indeed of the blood of Suguro Tatsuma. Your lineage has been confirmed. Suguro Ryuji, you are now the owner of the Gouhaen. _

"Red flames!" Shima marveled at the hypnotically dancing flames that now enveloped their friend.

"Ryuji." Tatsuma sounded tired and worn. "Come here. I will teach you to strongest Kekkai spell, one that is passed only to the Head Priests. There is a seal that even you have yet to see. Watch closely while I draw it." He demonstrated, dragging his finger lightly across the soil. "Got it? I can only…do it once. I know that you can remember it after you've seen it once. Tie the seal with _Chiketsu, on kirikiri…_"

"_Ryuji." A hint of exasperation and amusement as Ryuji's attempt to sneak in was noticed. "Didn't I tell you not to come in here?"_

"…_daddy…"_

"_Guess that I can't say no to you, eh? Come here."_

Ryuji had a lump in his throat that won't go away.

_Spend every Father's Day talking to a cold slab of stone…_

* * *

"_Hey, geezer." Rin knelt down before the grave, in the black, somber suit once more. "It's Father's Day today, you know. We never really celebrated properly…we didn't even go out for sukiyaki. It's just the three of us, and presents that I don't think you really liked. I wanted to get the good stuff, those magazines that I saw you eyeing before. Yukio won't let me get them though, and instead I had to just get you another bottle of shoe polish. Still better than Yukio's tie though, and __**books**__. I found those books when we were cleaning out your room during the holidays. They were gathering dust. Did that mean that you just never read them, or you just weren't around long enough to-?"_

_Rin swiped at his eyes, and made himself comfortable before the grave. "Remember Shiemi? We never met her together, but I met her with Yukio, and from what she says I think you met her too, though she was always too shy to say anything. She's better lots now though. She even tried to make friends with __**Izumo**__. Can you imagine? Did I ever tell you about Izumo? She's a really strange girl with even stranger eyebrows. She acts weird to everyone though, like she hates the world but Kuro told me that she was really struck with him. She went all weird and caring. Maybe she had a soft spot for animals, or maybe just for Kuro…? Anyway, don't let Kuro hear that, it'll make his ego grow even more. Kuro's been doing okay, though he misses your silver vine sake. I never managed to get that nasty taste the same as yours, no matter how I try. Honestly. Kuro told me you drank it with him and actually managed to drink enough to get drunk. Was your taste so bad?"_

_Rin's boots tapped the stone in a slow, unsteady rhythm. "I should really stop this, you know? Just mourn properly and move on with life. Talking to a stupid boulder isn't like talking to you. I try to, but your voice is fading. I'm scared. What if I wake up one day and I just can't remember what you looked like anymore? I know I'll probably never forget how you looked, bleeding out onto the floor, but, that isn't how I want to remember you. I want to remember the old man who liked big boobs and ate omelets with the eggshells still in them, not you after Satan. I want-I want you who I can call 'daddy' properly. Satan told me to call him daddy, you know? I don't know whether you could hear us but I'm telling you anyway. I'm telling this to a cold slab of stone, and maybe you're listening somewhere up there. As if I'd ever call him daddy. Don't get your hopes up, old man, I'm not going to go 'daddy, daddy' all cutesy like when I was little."_

_He closed his eyes, remembering his dad's laugh. Deep and warm, so…'daddy-like'. He adjusted his position so that he was leaning against the gravestone instead of facing it. The sky was a light blue, with fluffy clouds everywhere. Someone out there, fathers were receiving messily drawn cards from toddlers, or gruff hugs from teenagers, or going out for a lavish dinner that for once, was paid by their children._

_Only Rin was here, celebrating Father's Day in a graveyard._

_He stayed like that, eyes closed, but feeling and smelling the scents nearby, of the wind, of the rustling leaves. And he liked to imagine that when a leaf brushed against his cheek, that was Shiro caressing him, and when the wind enfolded him, he was sharing a hug with his dad._

* * *

"…then you need to touch the ground for the kekkai to unfold." Tatsuma pressed a shaking finger to the ground and keeled over, having reached the end of his tether and having completed his mission in teaching his son to set up the barrier.

"Dad!" Ryuji wasn't fast enough to catch his father, who now gasped for breath on the ground. Ryuji took control immediately, despite his evident panic. "Moriyama-san, Kamiki-san, please stay here with my father."

"Okay!" Shiemi immediately replied, nodding earnestly. Finally, she could help!

"Got it." Kamiki didn't look as excited, with good reason.

"Shima, Konekomaru." Ryuji continued his instructions. "Find Shura-san and the rest of the Myoudha. Tell them what happened."

Konekomaru had a rough guess on what Ryuji was about to say next, but asked anyway. "What about you, Bon?"

"This kekkai forms with the touch of the finger to the ground as a center. So I have to set it up as close to the sporangium as possible." He was resigned, determined, even. He was going to finish his dad's work. He will make his dad live to see it continue.

"You're saying that you're going to go _in there?_" Konekomaru asked shrilly, pointing at the bubbling mass in the distance that popped again as more of its city began to take shape. "That's too reckless!"

Once again, Shima had to play the voice of reason. "Bon. I've always kept my mouth shut and listened to you even if it's a pain in the neck. But this time, with lives on the line, I need to say this. One day, you're really going to get yourself killed, and the bloodline of the priests will end with you. There will be no one to carry this temple on."

"It's okay! I can protect Suguro." Rin leapt up, not to be forgotten. "Its fine, isn't it?" He asked as Ryuji let out a disbelieving snort. "I can't unsheathe the sword but I can use some flames! And the point is, I'm strong. Leave it to me, okay? Don't worry, Konekomaru, it'll be alright."

"…" Konekomaru looked down as Shima asked about himself. Then he made his decision and tore down the path they had come from. Shima yelped at being left behind and chased after the shorter boy.

With only five of them left, Ryuji looked at Shiemi and Kamiki. "Please…take good care of my dad."

"We will!" Shiemi promised.

"Now…let's go." Ryuji said to Rin, who was standing. He felt a flash of worry as he noted that Rin seemed to be favoring his right leg, but decided that current matters were more pressing. Nevertheless, he offered his right shoulder for Rin to lean on.

"Be careful…" Came Tatsuma's weak voice from behind them. "I'm really sorry. Ryuji…please forgive this worthless father of yours."

With Rin leaning a little on him, Ryuji wanted to turn but couldn't. Instead, with his back to his father, he said, "I…have always liked hearing you chant the sutra. So no matter what…please live another day…daddy…"

Tatsuma closed his eyes, savoring what might as well be his son's last words to him. When he opened them, Ryuji and Rin were gone.


	2. Nii-san

_Chapter Two_

_This is your second chapter, everyone! Feel free suggest more! Even if its unrelated to this story, please do suggest! I only have two more requests to work on…running out of writing material…_

* * *

"Whoa…" Rin marveled at the gigantic structure of boiling and roiling boils before them as subtle bolts of pain shot through his leg. Suguro wasn't faring any better either. Their trek through the jungle had lowered his stamina even more, and he was taking quick, shallow breaths. Rin's wound seemed to be getting worse, but without Shiemi around he couldn't say for sure. It hurt worse, that he could confirm.

"It's slowly turning into a building!" Rin would have bounced a little had his leg not been killing him.

"Buildings." Suguro corrected, tired and mildly annoyed. "If we don't hurry up…things are going to go bad."

They turned their gaze back to the massive monster towering over them. "How do we even get in anyway?" Suguro despaired.

A branch cracked. Rin nearly fell over as he spun.

_Rin! _The small black 'Neko' stepped out from the bushes, a wild eyed look on its face.

"Kuro!" Rin yelled, happy to have his familiar back. Shiro's last legacy on Earth after the twins.

_Rin! You have to escape quickly! _ Kuro yowled, waving its paws around. _The mountain god is a terrifying monster and it smells terrible! You have to get out now!_

"Huh?" Said Suguro and Rin, Suguro out of confusion and Rin out of defiance. Rin continued to address Kuro. "Do you mean the Impure King? I know, but we can't just run away. If we're going to defeat that thing, we have to get up there."

Kuro's sharp sense of smell noted the tinge of iron around Rin, even if the offending wound was hidden behind a bush at the moment. _What-this is absurd! You two aren't a match for it! Rin, you're bleeding! How are you going to defeat it like that?_

One could practically see the question marks floating around Suguro as Rin continued his one-sided conversation with Kuro (at least it seemed so to the rooster-headed teen). "But if no one's doing it, things are going to get really bad. More people will die."

Kuro had a really constipated look on its face for a moment. Rin was all he had left of Shiro now, and he loved Rin in his own right, not just because of Shiro. Kuro would always miss Shiro's silver vine sake, but Rin was sukiyaki, new and delicious. Kuro loved both the sake and the sukiyaki, and he'd already lost the sake. He wasn't going to let Rin die too.

_Stupid Rin!_ Kuro growled, turning full size. _Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous! Didn't Shiro teach you properly?! Well, at least I'm taking you there!_

Suguro's eyes popped out of his head as Rin scrambled onto Kuro's back cheerfully. "Kuro, you're amazing! Suguro, get up here!"

"…_EH?_" He was going to _ride_ it?!

* * *

A few minutes later.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!"

Rin was shrieking with excitement while Suguro was holding on for dear life and praying that one, he wouldn't fall off and two, that girly voice screaming in fear wasn't his. Sadly, only the first was granted.

"I'm gonna dieeeeeee!" He shrieked.

"Heehee…" Rin was going to have so much fun with that blackmail material later.

Kuro's momentum in the air started to fade, and as he landed to bounce off again, miasma nearly managed to latch onto the cat god's feet. Kuro twisted away from it, disgusted and fearful. _It comes after me whenever my feet touch down! It looks like buildings, but it's really the mountain god!_

Karura was grim, analyzing the situation before them. _With this…there won't be anywhere to start with the drawing of the Earth's power. Without the Earth Mother to sustain you, you would waste away within seconds. _

"Forget that, I won't even have the time to chant the kekkai spell properly!" Suguro growled, his fear of falling off momentarily forgotten in the light of the situation.

"Kuro!" Rin called into the gigantic ear in front of him. "Is there anywhere close to the sporangium that you can step on?"

_I'll look! _

Suguro was starting to lose confidence as he watched Rin and Kuro check out possible spots, then narrowly escape to repeat it again. He'd only heard the kekkai spell once, what if he got it wrong? What if he'd led his already injured friend and his familiar into this hell for nothing? Best case scenario, even if he did manage to contain it, how would they get rid of something like that?

Rin glanced at the sporangium, then paused.

"What?" Suguro noted his friend's unusual behavior.

"Whoa…that really looks like a gigantic meat bun…I haven't eaten since yesterday's lunch…" Rin was starting to drool. Suguro sweat dropped. "You really can act normal no matter what, can't you?" He looked down. "I'm terrified."

"It's not my fault you lost at rock, paper, scissors when we were deciding who was to ride shotgun!" Rin retorted, though he could swear that Suguro purposely lost so that Rin could have the safer seat-that way, he would have better balance even if his leg troubled him.

"That's not what I meant, idiot!" Suguro would have face palmed if he had not been clinging to Kuro's back for dear life. Time to get serious and quit playing around. "If you can't draw your sword…then you're just a really strong guy with a stick! Aren't you even just a little bit scared?"

"…" Rin turned away from Suguro just as Kuro spotted a rock. _Hold on tight! Rough landing, incoming! This is the only place where the mountain god's fingers haven't touched!_

"Okay! Let's settle this right here!" Rin whispered more thanks into Kuro's ear while Suguro slid off, a little dizzy and glad to be off the air for a while.

Suguro glanced at the surging miasma around them. "Hey…you're not going to give in again, are you?"

Rin started, then smiled slightly. "No way. Not now." He took Suguro's offered hand and cautiously dismounted too. "And you! Don't be scared or piss your pants either!" He ignored Suguro's protests. "Right now…everyone is doing what they can do." Yukio, firing his guns into the miasma, brain whirring at a speed that most people couldn't follow. Shura, bossing people around as she had her own familiars chipping away at the wall of miasma. Shiemi and Izumo, trying to get Tatsuma back to safety. Shima and Konekomaru, headed towards the main force with precious intelligence. "So we're gonna do what we can too! So…just focus on your barrier building…" Rin flashed a cheeky smile and Suguro, who was about to marvel at the pep talk that actually made sense when Rin finished his sentence. "…Princess Suguro."

"_What?! _Who are you calling Princess? I'll beat the shit out of you!" Suguro roared.

"Well…you were the one whimpering! I don't like being the knight of a rough-looking princess either, you know." Rin shrugged, smirking evilly. Suguro was speechless, for once. As Rin hobbled away, he regained his senses and roared after the other teen. "Damn it all, I'll do it! No matter what you say! Just keep your eyes peeled and see!"

_Keep your eyes peeled, huh. So that was the right expression, then?_ Rin smiled inwardly, remembering his father on the day he left for that interview, tying his tie for him. Clear as morning dew, fresh as green grass. The face of his father smiling was etched into his mind. He wouldn't forget. Shiro's voice rang out once more. _If you're an adult, prove it to me then!_

"Alright! I'm counting on you!"

Suguro felt a little relieved-at least his friend was back to normal, joking around like the world wasn't about to end for the two of them. If he could act like that, they must have a decent chance of making it out alive.

"We're gonna beat this thing, Suguro!" Rin had mounted Kuro again, turning to face the Impure King, towering above them with spires and turrets.

Then he noticed that Rin's hands were trembling.

"Let's go, Kuro, my trusty steed!" Rin whooped as they charged into the fray, almost doubling over in pain when he was flung off Kuro's back. Kuro wasn't going to let the 'steed' comment go just like that though, and growled back at Rin, who laughed in return as he batted away the long fingers of miasma that tried to claim the rock Suguro was using as a base.

_This guy…I know he's not just an idiot._ Suguro knelt down, getting into chanting stance. _I know that!_ He started to chant. _But I…_

* * *

_I…_

Yukio hesitated, feeling something stir at the bottom of his mind.

_You hate your brother, don't you?_

The poised gun started to shake.

_Ever since I was little…_

That dog. Oh, that dog. Yukio had forgotten it. It was before his training to become an Exorcist started. Rin'd found an abandoned dog and brought it home, stubbornly insisting on keeping it. Fujimoto had relented after a few half hearted attempts to change Rin's mind, which, as all of them knew, was as firm and unmovable as a mountain.

They'd played with it, fed it. Even though Yukio wasn't the one to push for the dog's stay with them, he was the one that prayed desperately that Shiro would see just how essential that dog was and let them keep it.

But then one day…

"Nice dog you have there." The woman smiled, patting its head. She was a foreign tourist, coming to their town to visit a relative. She frowned, looking at the hyperactive Rin and Yukio hiding behind Fujimoto's cassock and the church's empty pews. The empty offering bags on the altar. "I was wondering…do you need me to take it off your hands?"

Rin stopped bouncing, glancing quizzically at them.

Fujimoto considered this. "Yukio, can you take Rin to your room? I believe you have homework to do."

Yukio, of course, had completed it but Rin obviously hadn't, a look of shock and horror showing on his face. "But, daddy!"

Yukio, the poster child, the obedient son, led Rin away, the dog yapping after them but choosing to sniff the lady's feet and lick her hand.

It was then when he knew they'd lost the dog.

When they took the dog away, which they'd just named Dog, Yukio was sobbing so hard that he had to sit down on the church's steps. Fujimoto was looking a little guilty for making his sons go through this, but he was really tight on money.

But when Yukio looked up, Rin was waving goodbye to the dog cheerily, calling for it to visit whenever it can.

"Big beds and creamy milk!" He yelled, forgetting that the dog didn't drink milk.

_I'd always looked up to my brother._

Yukio scowled, firing a few more shots as Toudou somersaulted out of the way, showing off as he dodged the bullets that were meant for the ground rather than him.

_But…_

As they'd grown, Yukio had started his Exorcist training. He though that meant that it was his time to start protecting his brother. But still, it was still Rin who beat up the bullies who still picked on Yukio. Shame and a feeling of worthlessness came over Yukio, and he batted Rin's hand away. Hurt, Rin yelled at him, and it evolved into them fighting. Yukio always won. It was a battle of words, not fists, and Rin would never lay a hand on him.

_While I looked up to him, at the same time I've actually…_

But Rin always managed to forgive and forget. It came so naturally to him that he wondered whether the boy they called the 'Demon's child' was another person instead of his brother.

_Always…_

Unseen signs of affection, misdirected thanks…

And his brother, giggling at a manga.

_Always...!_

He met Shiemi first. He liked to think that he was the one whom Shiemi made exceptions for, who was the first person her age to actually talk to her and give her lessons.

But then there was Rin. Yanking her by the collar and somehow, in that brash way of his, handled the delicate matter of her relationship with her mother with such a straightforward way that it was almost laughable. He drew Shiemi out of her shell, made her come to cram school, and finally turned her into the laughing girl in front of the fountain with her _friends_.

_Always found it hard to accept…_

Yukio's eyes were squinted with the effort as he finally understood.

_That he both loved and hated Okumura Rin._

* * *

Suguro was halfway through the chant, sweat beading as miasma roared and surged at the tiny island that was yet to be covered in miasma, held back by a cat and an injured boy with a stick.

_Both him and my old man, always trying to look cool and aloof and do everything on their own…_

His chant didn't falter one bit as more miasma lunged for him and was beaten back by Rin.

_And that, _

"Utarata," he chanted, preparing for the final stance that joined his body with the Earth, using himself as a conduct and director of Earth's power.

_Has always pissed me off! _

"KANMAN!" He roared, pressing his fingers down to the ground, beads clattering around him.

For one terrifying second, nothing happened. Maybe he got the chant wrong. Maybe something was wrong in his pose. Maybe his father forgot something else.

He saw Rin, the scar snaking up his arm like a worm jerking and flashing about as the muscles of his hand rippled as he struggled to protect Suguro from the miasma he had led them into. Kuro, providing support for Rin subtly whenever necessary.

Then Karura lifted from his back. _Suguro Ryuji. _He said, spreading out his wings. _I hear and acknowledge your Barrier Spell._

A thin haze of shimmering vapor spread over the miasma, enveloping it, flickering with the occasional red tongue of flame. Suguro had channeled the energy of the oldest and most primal god on Assiah existing and with Karura's help, turned it into a fire element barrier that burned anything harmful that tried to get out from within it.

A strange silence fell, almost peaceful, even as the Impure King roared and shook with rage.

He'd done it.

"Whoa, Suguro, that's so cool!" Rin paused for a moment, shading his eyes and pushing his bangs out of the way to admire the hypnotic, warm bubble they were in. Miasma licked at his feet and he kicked it away. Kuro meowed in awe too.

Suguro looked around him. His gaze couldn't stretch that far, beyond the barrier, but beyond it, he imagined that he could see his mother, his father, the rest of his friends, safe.

* * *

Yukio lowered his gun, exhausted but triumphant. Toudou misread his little smile though.

"Oh, what's the matter? Is our little boy tired already?" Toudou jeered, but when Yukio lifted his head with a confident look in his eyes, Toudou faltered. Following Yukio's line of sight, he noticed the various marks and furrows drawn in the ground by Yukio's bullets that were constantly missing…then noticing that it formed an array of seals around him. Yukio started to chant, and light shone from them. Sudden fatigue overtook Toudou and he realized what the young Exorcist was doing. Despite not having the Tamer Meister, he had realized the need to fight Toudou with the opposing element.

_Yukio…at least, be true to yourself._

It was time to speak it out for the world to hear. "I both love and hate my brother! But most of all…I hated my weak, younger self." The one who had depended so much on his nii-san. Useless brat, always getting nii-san into trouble. "The one I really hate the most…is myself!"

With this final admission, the Naiads acknowledged Yukio's will as dominant and created a shimmering water prison, suspending Toudou far above the ground and drowning him.

Toudou started to choke a little as Yukio crouched, trying to regain his breath. He never thought that his first try at summoning would be in such a dire situation, and taxing him of so much energy.

Then Toudou started to clap instead as the prison started to turn into steam and he slowly descended. Yukio looked up in alarm. "Impressive! To summon this many Naiads without having obtained the title of Tamer…You did well! An Exorcist protégée indeed! But you're still a novice…" He lunged at Yukio, flinging him far backwards, toppling against the ground and catching him in a chokehold. Yukio was completely powerless, being tossed around like rag doll. His glasses flew off. "So I have your answer…really, you're more interesting than I could have ever imagined. A pity, really…for you will die here now. Now…how long will it take to reduce a single human to ash? I need to get the timing just right…it's my first time too, after all. I can't be blamed if you aren't killed on the first try."

Yukio froze up in fear, his instincts reducing to his most primal, his automatic, dependable fallback. A habit built up after years of facing the wild, thrashing animal they called fear, Yukio's subconscious had learnt that usually just saying that word would drive off any immediate danger.

_Nii-san!_

Rin stopped cold.

_Nii-san!_

A tearful little Yukio, reaching out to Rin with fat little arms, screaming about unseen monsters as his brother's equally pudgy arms beat down the bullies.

_Nii-san!_

A defiant Yukio, trying and failing to stand his ground as fists stronger than him pummeled him, raining blow after blow as Rin rushed to his rescue.

_Nii-san!_

A sharply inhaled breath as Yukio ran to Rin, then froze up as he saw Fujimoto Shiro's bleeding body.

_Nii-san! _

"Yu…kio?" Rin, momentarily distracted, nearly lost his sword had it not been for the hastily shouted warning by Ryuji. He could have sworn that he heard Yukio's voice, clear as day, ringing in his head like warning bells. Yukio was in danger. Rin couldn't go to him now, but he needed to help his little brother, somehow. Whatever it took.

Rin darted from one miasma wave to another, beating them back the best he could while desperately trying to see beyond the city of the Impure King. While he possessed enhanced sight and hearing, the Miasma King stretched too far, so far that Rin could barely see the edges of it with the majority of his demonic powers locked within his sword. He saw flashes, gunfire and demonic fire alike, but no sign of the telltale flash of glasses. Or maybe Yukio was there, just blocked by something else-

"OKUMURA!" Ryuji roared at him and Rin had to twist into an awkward position to avoid the miasma that crashed down atop him. He cried out because he twisted his ankle when he instinctively tried to shift his weight from his injured leg, and the position that resulted was simply _unnatural_.

"For heaven's sake, at least look where you're going, won't you?" Ryuji huffed a sigh of irritation when the immediate danger was over. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Now, now," Rin smirked, hiding a wince. "Don't go around getting your royal panties in a bunch, Princess Suguro. Your manly knight here is just fine."

Ryuji turned bright red. "Enough of this princess crap!" He yelped.

"Kuro?" Rin called, looking around, absent mindedly stomping on a small stream of miasma that tried to curl itself around his leg. Then Kuro burst out of the fray, covered in miasma and gasping for breath. The Impure King must've tried to choke the unfamiliar object within it. _It just keeps coming!_

Rin nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden appearance. "Y-Yeah, I guess…"

Ryuji drew in a deep breath and had to abruptly let it out as Rin wasn't concentrating once again. "OKUMURA, behind you!"

Rin turned in time just to block the long, thick fingers of miasma that reached for him with his sword. "Got it!" He grinned, and let blue flames flicker across the scabbard. The miasma dissolved immediately at the slightest touch of the azure flames. His flames could destroy the miasma.

Except he _still couldn't draw his sword!_

"Damn it…!" Rin cursed under his breath, his thoughts travelling to Yukio in his unknown danger.

_NII-SAN!_

_He's going to kill me. _Yukio thought, frighteningly calm as he watch the ball of ruby flames grow closer.

_Stop._ Rin screamed desperately, knowing that he had no way of getting to Yukio in time. _STOP!_

Something flickered within Yukio, smoldering, and burst to life. Toudou instinctively cowered before the royal flame and leapt backwards. Yukio shakily sat up, holding his cheek, touching his eyes. His vision had gone blue for a moment, and in that wondrous second, he thought that his brother had somehow managed to hear his call, break out of prison and rush to his rescue, just like old times. But Rin was nowhere to be seen.

"What was that?" Toudou asked, knowing the answers but wanting to needle Yukio. "For a moment there…I was taken aback, moving instinctively. I merely thought you were interesting before, but it seems I may have underestimated you." He smiled, infuriatingly.

"Wha-What do you mean?" Yukio scrabbled backwards as Toudou moved towards him, one slow, steady, evenly spaced step at a time.

"Those are not your eyes."


	3. Father

**This is it. The final chapter of Daddy. Thank you to all of you for reading this and special thanks to 27kirune, who suggested this. I cried when I wrote the ending. Thank you for suggesting this idea, which was fun to write, and really made me think, and emotional too. Thank you so much.**

* * *

**_Chapter Three_**

* * *

A wave of miasma blew over the teens, forcing them to lift their free arm to protect their eyes from the miasma. Ryuji started to cough and Rin could feel the effects of it starting to ravage him. It was already getting a little harder to breath and the bandage on his thigh had already long been discarded, lost somewhere within the folds of miasma because a loose end had been snagged. The wound wasn't getting any better either. In fact, he could say that it was getting worse. A bulbous sphere loomed over them.

"The heart of the Impure King…!" Ryuji choked out, and Rin started to run back towards his friend, now seriously worried. "Are you okay? Oi, Princes-" Rin nearly braked when he saw the ominous form looming behind Ryuji, then broke into a swift run. He might not get there on time oh please God please let him get there on time please let him defeat the Impure King please let him draw his sword-

"SUGURO!"

"Karura, protect me!" Ryuji ordered.

_Understood._

Blazing flames that were almost white hot leapt into the sky, sparks flying and burning the immediate threat. The remains dripped onto Ryuji, burning him and eating through his clothes. Rin finally reached the rooster-headed teen and immediately started looking him over with a critical eye. "Are you okay? What did you do?"

Karura explained how he used a piece of the barrier to keep the Impure King at bay temporarily since if Ryuji fell, the barrier would too and everything would be done for in the simplest terms. Rin sighed in relief. "That's good, right?"

"But…" Ryuji spoke, voice shaking with exhaustion. "I'm not sure whether…I can hold this thing up for another fifteen minutes."

"Why?" Rin inched closer, dropping to his knees so that he was on eye level with Ryuji. Plus, he needed a reprieve from the constant pain.

"If you want pure honesty, fifteen minutes would be a stretch. My body is reaching its limit. Koneko…Shima…my dad and mom…I hope that I at least would buy them enough time to evacuate." His eyes traveled to the blood that dotted the roiling miasma around him, and the pus oozing out of the wound right now. "And you, Okumura. Don't push yourself…too hard."

"Stupid." Rin scolded. "Of course they will be alright!"

He didn't get the chance to say more, for the Impure King reached out and wrapped Rin into it, enfolding Rin with a thick layer of miasma, choking him. Rin clawed at it, feeling something twist and crack. Kuro growled and leapt at it, screaming Rin's name, managing to claw Rin out but instead got entangled within the miasma itself too.

"Kuroooo!" Rin screamed himself hoarse as Kuro fell. "_Shiiiiiiiiiiit!"_

He yanked at the sword, wanting to cry. "You. Stupid. Bastard!" He considered kicking it, but then decided that it wouldn't be the wisest move. Flames flickered to life on him while he pulled, strained with the effort to just get the damn sword out. He looked into the cauldron of miasma, slowly lowering his sword, his hands shaking. _All that…and I still can't get the sword out?!_

His doubts were starting to resurface. _Daddy…? _

"WHY?!" Rin slashed at the miasma before him, growling and kicking, venting his rage and confusion. He leapt at every opening, slashed and stabbed, swung and even bit at a tendril of miasma that passed close to his mouth.

_I can't even pull it out!_

Ryuji watched the struggling form of his friend as he went higher and higher on the mountain of miasma.

_I don't know what to do…_

It was time to admit the truth, Ryuji thought. He opened his mouth but could form no sound the first few times.

_Daddy?_

"Its…" His voice was croaky, hoarse. Like an old man.

_Tell me…_

"…the end."

_What should I do?_

"While my barrier still lasts…" Determination to protect to the very end.

_Daddy!_

"Get away!"

"Go, try to help the people get to shelter! Hurry up, every second is precious! I'll hold it until you're safely out of here!"

Ryuji recoiled when he saw the look on Rin's face. For a moment, his friend truly looked like a demon. But he still plucked up the courage to give the dark-haired boy the final push anyway. "_GO!_"

Rin bit down on his lip, hard, before speaking. "Uh…What was that…Ahh…right! The Kyoto Tower! I wanna climb the Kyoto Tower!" Rin put one foot on a random miasma bubble in his excitement and immediately regretted it as it sent shots of pain up his leg. "Show me the way tomorrow! You're from around here, right? I hear that it has a public bath, even though it's a tower! That's so special! I wonder if the others would want to come…we could invite them." Rin smiled, seeming to light up everything around him in a warm glow. Ryuji could only stare.

"And so…I need Kyoto to be safe." He lowered his outspread pose a little, barely dodging a miasma tendril. "I need _everyone _to be safe. Let's win and go back home."

Ryuji couldn't take it anymore. "Why-Why…Why the Kyoto Tower anyway!?"

"Ehh?!"

"I've never even climbed it! I even find it embarrassing! Plus, with that leg of yours, anyone with good sense would forbid you from doing any climbing, walking, running, jumping bouncing kicking whatever else you do with them for at least a week!"

"Really?!"

"Kyoto has heaps of other famous places to see, full of history and culture!"

"I don't really know much about temples, I just wanted to see some fashion spots!"

Ryuji understood. He laughed.

"Su-Suguro san…What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah…its okay…whatever…I'll support your fake confidence. We're friends after all…Okumura."

Rin stumbled a few steps forward, wanting to get closer to the source of those words. He needed to know…if they were true…

"I'll trust you."

Rin clenched the sword in his hand even tighter. _Damn old man…_

_Daddy…_

He put one hand on the hilt and the other on the scabbard.

_Why me?_

It could be a futile attempt, he'd tried numerous times before, so why should this time be any different?

_Why…_

The miasma was closing down on Ryuji. His _friend._

_Why was I saved?_

He yanked on the sword, which still stubbornly refused to give way.

_Why._

Blue flames burst to life on his hair.

_Was._

His feet dug into the ground at the effort.

_I._

Rin let out a wordless scream.

_Saved?!_

His pupils contracted, flames flickering to full life, the blade sliding out of the scabbard smoothly and soundlessly as if it had been oiled.

His eyelids snapped open. With one growl, he bounded off the ground, fire starting to spread and rage around him. He flew towards the towering miasma above Ryuji, slashing and cutting at everything that stood in his way.

"Okumura-!"

He…!

He drew his sword.

He drew his sword.

He drew his sword.

Ryuji had done the right thing in trusting him, he thought, smiling, finger shaking as it pressed to the ground.

Rin slashed through one whole tower of miasma, burning it and reducing it to nothing but ashes. The temporary face of the Impure King was destroyed, shrieking and screaming all the way, Rin landed, fire swelling and sparking around him. It wasn't just the blue fire burning either. It was all of the hope, determination, doubt, love, and tears , everything that made Okumura Rin Rin. All the miasma on his body were automatically burned away, and Rin nearly dropped to his knees at the sheer shock when it sank in. He drew his sword. He actually drew it.

Ryuji, however, was faring worse. He'd been wrapped in miasma, and barely managed to choke out a cry of help.

"_…__shuri shuri mamari mari shushuri souka._" Shura intoned, jumping out of nowhere and dissipating the miasma that was choking Ryuji.

"Shura!" Rin turned.

"Leave Suguro to me! That monster…" Shura gestured at the ground beneath them. "Is not something a normal person can defeat. We are relying on you, Rin. Didn't you swear to me? You'll prove Shiro was right in his decision to let you live."

Rin dimly remembered his words from before the camping trip, right after the amusement park incident. He'd been so full of fire then, sure that his father's decisions _had_ to be invincible, if he wanted Rin to live, so be it.

"PROVE IT!" Shura ordered.

"Yeah." Rin turned to leave, but then Ryuji's small voice had him stop.

"Please."

_I trust you._

Rin smiled, and shot off.

Shura looked after her student, smiling victoriously. "Rin. The only thing you're missing is confidence. Find your own place. Win it. I _know _you will."

_You're Shiro's son, after all._

Rin leapt at the sporangium, but fingers of miasma curled after him, and he was forced to jump away. He managed to decapitate a couple of 'fingers', but nearly froze as he saw the actual power of the Miasma King. He darted, dodged, slashed and cut, protecting his weak spot-his left leg all the while. The fact that he could now be airborne helped too. Shura had taught him well. However, it was still insufficient.

"How do I defeat this stupid thing?" Rin yelped.

Shura sighed. Rin was doing well, well enough to make even Shura proud, but Shura doubted that even if Rin's powers were gifted to her and coupled with her own talents, she couldn't defeat the Impure King either. "…it's not going to be easy."

Ryuji had been suffering in silence, but now the Earth Mother's power had almost burned out his body. Tilting to one side, his finger left the ground and his entire body crashed into the ground instead.

"SUGURO!" Rin screamed. The kekkai would come down, allowing the miasma to spread. People would _die._ But for now Rin's immediate concern was that his friend wasn't moving, lying on the floor as if he were dead.

The kekkai started to dissolve slowly, the remnants of the fire slowly dying out, the embers turning into ashes. The glow dissipated and Rin was faced with a dull, dark blue land, the enemy's gray and yellow boils roiling, writhing and even chuckling.

Rin leapt high into the air and brought his sword down upon the Impure King with a loud battle cry of, "SHIIIIIIIIT!"

The Impure King seemed to be laughing at him as it swatted at him like a fly. Rin was constantly forced to take to the air to avoid being crushed.

A figure suddenly appeared before him. It looked like the Impure King, except that the Impure King was gray and rotting, while this blazed with life. Literally. Orange flames leapt everywhere on its body. It seemed to be an older demon, and Rin wondered whether living too many years would eventually turn your face into that same identical shape. If that was the case, he didn't want to live until he was a hundred after all.

"You're a pain to look at!" A voice huffed, coming from the unknown figure.

"Huhh?!" Was that an insult? "What are you? A demon?"

"Tsk. Demons, angels, they're just names the humans gave us. Who are you to call me that?" This unknown thing was definitely looking down on Rin. He didn't think this would be the best time to start a fight though. Despite public opinion, Rin could actually consider his own best interests.

Then it looked more closely at Rin. "A human clad in the holy flames?! Now that's interesting…I'm the burning impurity Ucchusama Kongo. The Impure King has been my sworn enemy for a long time. That sword you hold in your hand…it originally belonged to our master. If you want to defeat it…you'll need me to teach you how to control your flames. You are young and inexperienced, and yet you possess the royal flames."

"I don't really understand what you're talking about…but please, do it, Ucchusama-san!" Rin replied earnestly.

"As you wish, my prince." Ucchusama swooped down and landed upon Rin's sword, minimizing itself. Rin had to squint for a moment as the Koumaken flared brightly upon the fusing of orange and blue flames. "Repeat the mantra and sutra I'm about to chant."

"What are you planning to do?" Rin asked, terrified and elated at the same time. _Finally._

"We will summon _Kashou Zanmai._" Ucchusama informed the boy coolly. "This will burn everything in the material world. With this powerful demon flame of yours…you will be able to burn and purify a whole mountain."

"Wait, what?" Rin spluttered. "I'm not going to be your killing machine! A whole mountain? There are lots of people here, you know?"

"Such a trivial matter." Ucchusama didn't understand why Rin would protest. He would give the boy the means to access his power and tap into it far more deeply than he had ever done, and yet he was protesting. "All the people who have entered the Impure King's castle or come into contact with its subordinates, which you may know as miasma, are contaminated. You must purify them completely. Even the smallest seedling left in Assiah will be enough to revive the Impure King. Let's go."

"Wa-Wait!" Rin yelled, but had no choice but to follow Ucchusama across a bridge. A wave of miasma suddenly slammed onto them, sending them toppling over the edge. "I'll try it!"

_Daddy…lend me your strength._

"We have no time to waste. We will start now."

_Help me purify this place. Please let me do it without hurting anyone. Daddy…?_

Rin began to chant, and was surprised to find that the words came naturally to him. After a couple of verses, he didn't even need Ucchusama to lead him anymore.

"Good, good…" Ucchusama was a little surprised at the potential of the young boy, but decided not to say anything. "Now, say the sutra."

"_Kashou…zanmai!"_ Rin roared, unleashing a full wave of flames in every direction, but then instinctively pulled it back. It was getting harder, since the sutra had enhanced his flames and it was struggling to burst out of him. "What is this?" He panted, trying to hold it back.

"Why are you hesitating, stupid?" Ucchusama roared. "Put more power into the flames!"

"But-But if I do-" _The flames would burn him out. It would consume him. He would burn down and murder everything, everyone he treasured. _

The flames are devouring him.

_I have been suppressed since I was born. _It moaned. _Now I am free!_

"STOP!" Rin yelled.

_I will smash everything to pieces! That's me! That's the real Okumura Rin!_

"Stop-Stop it…" Rin could feel his will growing weaker, and he thrashed even harder.

_Rin's flames are warm. _A gentle voice, the spring breeze in the midst of the cold winter. Soft hands hugging him even as flames surrounded his body, not one spark hurting her at all.

_…__I just wanted to say thank you._ Ryuji, avoiding eye contact but still sincere. _I trust you._

_Everyone trusted him. They put their faith in him._

_And now…_

_It was time to live up to that faith._

For a moment there, he saw Shiro, holding out his arms towards Rin. _Come, _he was saying. _Don't be afraid. You trust your daddy, don't you?_

Rin closed his eyes and gave in.

* * *

It was a beautiful night.

The first surge of blue flames was powerful, burning away the bulk of the Impure King, throwing sparks to the sky as the enemy was cremated. The ones that followed were gentle, caressing. Most of the Exorcist fled at the first sight of blue, but the few that remained stood in wonder, and tentatively, let the fire surround them. The fire wrapped around them, hugging them tenderly, and began to clean every drop of miasma from their body. When they stepped out of the blue glow with bright eyes and a look of wonderment upon their faces, the other Exorcists slowed, and stopped.

The blue flame continued to spread, flickering warmly, softly. People stopped running. Some embraced it. It reminded them of home, family, laughter, joy, trust and peace. It was like stepping under a waterfall, it cleansed you of everything.

Then slowly, slowly, it receded and vanished, the last embers floating upwards into the sky and disappearing.

Some non-Exorcists would later say it was a light from the heavens. They called it the second Blue Night, and the two Blue Nights couldn't have been more different. Some say it reminded them of innocence and love.

One little child's description came the closest though.

"It was like daddy." She said simply, as her father held her in his strong arms.

* * *

In the forest, Shiemi smiled.

_This flames are warm…_

_They're Rin's._

And it was dawn.

The long night was over.

"Suguro, are you awake?" Shura asked, shaking the boy slightly as soon as he showed the first signs of returning to consciousness.

"Yeah…what happened?" Ryuji slowly sat up, his head spinning a little, but he felt better.

Shura smiled in pride. "Look."

It was then when Ryuji finally took in everything around him. A lush, green forest, rich, dark brown soil and a big gray boulder which they were currently sitting on. He could see the morning dew on the leaves, and realized that the ground and the air was damp too. It had rained.

But most importantly, there was no sign of miasma anywhere. He didn't feel sick, and that was near impossible since he was pretty sure he had a load of those dumped onto him last night.

Then he saw the object, or rather person of Shura's pride.

Rin was spiraling through the air, flames blazing around him. Ryuji put two and two together and came to the obvious conclusion-Rin had succeeded in controlling his flames and burnt away every last trace of the Impure King.

Even though he was quite sure that he had contributed nothing to it, he felt quite proud of Rin's achievement anyway. Shura should get more bragging rights, since she was Rin's instructor, but the main person they should thank was Rin.

Rin landed awkwardly, back towards them. He sheathed his sword, dispelling the dancing flames which seemed a bit queer to Ryuji.

"Shura-sensei…Suguro…" Rin's first words to them were halting, tense.

Then he turned, biting his lip in an effort to control that big grin spreading over his face. "I…I did it! I controlled my flames!" He resisted the urge to punch the air. "There're still things that need more fine-tuning, but I finally managed to decide what to burn and what not to burn!"

Shura smirked. "Not the first time, kid. Remember the time you burnt all my clothes off except the underwear?"

_Whatt?!_ Ryuji almost choked. He would have expected that of Shima, not Rin!

"But this time I did it on purpose!" Rin exclaimed, hopping closer. "Until now it was always unintentional!"

Ryuji tensed up a little as he spotted the large group of Exorcists heading their way, but relaxed when he saw Konekomaru and Shima at the head of the group, sprinting towards them and calling their names.

"Koneko! Shima!" Ryuji sighed in relief. His weakness in not holding the barrier hadn't harmed them after all. "You're okay!"

Rin's excitement wasn't over yet. "Konekomaru! Shima!" He yelled, wanting to share the news with everyone. "I was finally able to control my power! I didn't burn anything except the Impure King, can you believe it?"

"A highly unusual experience." Shima said.

Shima Senior, Renzo's father, made his way towards Rin. He didn't see him as the Son of Satan, but rather the possessor of the flames that saved them all. "You saved our families, our branch, our temple, our lives, the entire city. We can't thank you enough."

Tears were starting to well in Konekomaru's eyes. "Okumura-kun…Thank you. Really, I, forgive me!"

"Ehh?" Shima didn't know what to do with a crying boy. He was lost with a crying _girl_, for goodness's sake!

Rin was more concerned than shocked though. "What happened? Did something go wrong? Why are you crying?"

Then Shima spotted Ryuji. "Whoa, you're alive! I thought that we were all dead this time for sure!"

"Sorry for making you worry." Ryuji didn't have further strength to respond.

"Haha…I'm not worried. Don't make it sound like I'm your nagging mom."

"NII-SAN!"

Oh boy. This was _not _going to end well. Even Shura cringed a little at the furious tone of Yukio's voice.

Rin, however, seemed to be completely oblivious. Maybe he had a deficiency at birth that prevented him from picking up such vibes. "Oh, hey, Yukio! You're okay too!"

"…" Yukio ignored his hyperactive brother. "Shura-san. Why is nii-san here? Who took him out of confinement?"

"Well…he apologized?" Shura was starting to look for possible escape routes.

"Hey, Yukio!" Rin's attempts to get his brother's attention was growing increasingly persistent. Ryuji wished that he would just shut up for once and not get beaten up even more. "I controlled my flames and actually managed to save a lot of people! I bet you're so shocked that your jaw is about to drop to the ground!"

"Okumura-kun…" Konekomaru tugged on Rin's sleeve a little nervously.

"The day when I'm going to surpass you is getting closer!" Rin grinned at the last bit, and Ryuji really wanted to tape his friend's mouth shut for his own wellbeing. Rin thought that everyone was the same as him, innocent and not reading too deep into the meaning of the words. To him, envy and worry were non-existent.

Yukio punched Rin. Hard. Hard enough to knock the breath out of him. Rin staggered, remembering the day his father had slapped him.

"Don't be stupid! Don't you understand your situation?!" Yukio yelled. Maybe he was just stressed from the fight with Toudou. Maybe he just couldn't take his brother's nonchalant attitude any longer.

"I understand." Rin coughed, and drops of blood splattered onto the ground. "I am Satan's son. And I can't run away from this power either. I've always been scared of it…but that's definitely…not…good…"

Ryuji saw it coming before anyone else, and caught Rin as he slumped.

"Rin?!"

"Okumura!"

And barely heard, distant: "_Nii-san?_"

* * *

_Daddy…What should I do now? _Young, confused.

_Idiot._ Amused, loving.

_Tell me… _Puppy dog eyes.

_That's something you should decide for yourself._ Firm, rock, solid.

_Why was I…?_

* * *

Okumura was stupid.

Not that it was a new fact, but with all that had happened last night, Ryuji could say that it was safe to think that this conclusion would never be challenged. If Rin were ever to protest to that fact, they had countless evidence of it. Many Exorcists had borne witness to Rin's largest act of stupidity yet last night.

"Stupid Rin." Shiemi mumbled, shaking her head at the unconscious boy, sleeping softly on a mattress.

See, even Shiemi agreed.

Really. One big gash in the upper left thigh that had to been stitched back together with eleven stitches, an ankle twisted so badly that if not for his demonic healing he would have to hobble for the rest of his life, a bruise on his left cheek that he wouldn't have gotten if not for his stupid mouth, broken ribs from…somewhere...(Ryuji suspected the Impure King's squeezing), one faded scar on his arm that had sapped some of his demonic healing abilities, and fire overuse. He was lucky that he had just enough flame left to burn away the miasma in his body, though he wasn't able to get rid of them fast enough. Rin had gotten rid of the miasma all right, but that wasn't enough to undo the damage the miasma had done before it was dispelled. Aka the mild fever he was currently running.

Across the room he could hear his mother berating his father, and smiled a little. Idiots, both of them.

Shura entered the room. "Oi, you guys. Just sleep already. You have a few days off, starting from tomorrow on, so make sure you get enough rest. Lights off."

With a flick of her slim wrist, she shut off every light in the room.

"…I can't find my bed!" Shima yelped, just back from the bathroom. They heard a slight commotion, then something which sounded suspiciously like flesh hitting flesh.

"Get your dirty hands off me!" Izumo growled.

"I just tripped!" Shima protested. "Ah, found my lovely little bed~"

"Do you all still have your drips in? Especially Shima-kun." Shiemi asked worriedly, referring to the IVs they had all been forced to wear. To tell the truth, the only ones who really needed it were only Rin and Ryuji, the rest of them would be fine with a good twenty four hours sleep and some food.

Shima giggled, "Aw, Shiemi-san, no need to worry for me. I'm a tough guy after all."

"Let's see how tough you are after I'm done with you." Izumo sounded a warning. "Now go to sleep."

It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep after everything quieted down. After the fresh bath and food, dressed in loose fitting yukatas and resting their sore bodies upon the heavenly soft mattresses and pillows, completed with a warm blanket, it was practically heaven.

Except for the tiny sliver of worry for Rin. He'd passed out and hadn't woken for four hours, during which they'd gotten back to Headquarters, laid out their sleeping quarters and finally tended to their own needs. Shiemi had offered to sponge Rin over but Yukio hadn't let anyone else touch his brother. Ryuji was worried for their teacher too. Somehow, he'd seemed…changed. Even if Rin was really acting idiotically enough to piss one off, no one had expected Yukio to be the one to punch the daylights out of Rin.

Maybe Yukio was beating himself up for it too. He hadn't come into the room since leaving an hour earlier, saying that he had Exorcist business to attend to.

Eventually, with these troubled thoughts accompanying him, Ryuji drifted off into sleep.

* * *

"I thought you wanted to go to Kyoto Tower." Shiemi shook Rin a little. "Come on, Rin, we're leaving already! Don't be a sleepyhead!"

"Not gonna work, Shiemi-san." Shima yawned from his bed. They'd just woke up in the morning, and still Rin hadn't woken up during the night. At least the gash on his leg was closing properly and the bruise on his cheek had disappeared. His ankle appeared to be healing around the same pace as the gash. "We've tried offering him free sukiyaki already and if he doesn't wake up at that, nothing will wake him. Unless you kiss him or something."

"Shima-san!" Konekomaru scolded as Shiemi turned tomato red.

"Well, if that will wake Rin, I'll do it!" She squeaked, and before anyone could stop her and tell her that it was just a joke, Shiemi had already bent down and gave Rin a kiss, her hair hanging down and obscuring their faces.

A flying kick knocked Shima off his feet before he could even gasp in shock. He scrambled away from the instigator on his elbows as fast as possible. "I-Izumo-chan!"

Izumo towered above him, obviously mad. "One, you do _not _trick a girl into giving away her first kiss like that. Secondly, _I was sleeping, you jerks!_"

"Heh heh…" Izumo was obviously not a morning person.

Shiemi blushed even harder. _Rin's cheeks were really soft. _She thought. _As if Yuki-chan had never hit him at all._

Everyone looked at her and she realized that she had said that out loud.

Shima let out a groan of disappointment. "Just the cheek? Geez…"

Izumo huffed and went back to her bed, folding up the blanket neatly.

"Don't be surprised, Yukio really doesn't hit hard."

"…."

"OKUMURA RIN!" Ryuji roared, leaping over the bed that was between their two beds and skidding to a stop in front of Rin, who was starting to regret making his wakefulness known. Ryuji was lucky that his IV had been taken out of his vein right after he woke up, which was three hours ago, otherwise he would've knocked it flying.

"Knight Rin at your service, Princess Suguro." Rin bowed a little awkwardly, given that he was actually just bowing over the side of his bed. Shiemi shoved him back, starting to become uncharacteristically fierce where the welfare of an injured person was concerned.

"You stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid idiot!" To everyone's surprise, it wasn't Ryuji that started to yell at Rin, but Shiemi instead. She started to sniffle and Izumo had the 'oh, not again' look on her face. "Idiot!" She tossed it at Rin again, who simply looked bewildered. "Rin is a stupid idiot!"

Ryuji didn't know what to say now that Shiemi had beaten him to the punch. "You're repeating yourself, Moriyama."

"Uh, Shiemi, what happened?"

"What happened, you ask." Izumo patted down her blanket, deadly calm. "Other than you running off with a bleeding leg to be a hero again and coming back with a twisted ankle, fever and also over taxed?"

Rin shrugged. "I feel better now. Not a big deal."

Konekomaru felt Rin's forehead. "Better, yes. Completely healthy, no."

"Aw," Rin whined. "I want to go to the Kyoto Tower!"

"Rin can go only after Rin is completely healthy!" Shiemi was adamant about it, and due to the stab of guilt Rin felt seeing the tear tracks on her face, he agreed. "But I can get out of bed, right? There's not much reason for me to overtax myself here anyway."

"The walking might be good for your muscles." Shiemi said decisively. "But I want you back here in twenty minutes!"

"Okay." Rin agreed easily, swinging his legs out of bed and standing, blinking away the dots in his eyes. "I'm going to get a drink."

* * *

Yukio walked out from the room he'd been hiding in while eavesdropping on Shura and Mephisto. He didn't and will never trust that polka-dotted abomination with Rin's life. He sighed. He still had an unfinished report to submit and he'd best get working on it now.

He walked past the lounge and made a mistake of looking at it.

Warm, comfortable, inviting chairs with wondrously soft cushions. If he took a short break here, it should be okay, right?

Yeah. Right.

Before he knew it he'd already spent fifteen minutes just lazing around in that chair. He knew that he was turning into his brother, but whenever he thought, well, time to get up, gravity would pull him down once more.

Soft, pattering footsteps sounded from the hallway behind him. Yukio didn't bother to turn his head and look. He was worried for his brother, worried about all the paperwork that would follow, maybe he just deserved this little snatched moment of peace.

There was the clink and clank of coins and a metallic clutter. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that this person was getting a drink from the machine in the corner. Maybe he could get one for himself later, but that would mean getting up.

Another clank as the tiny window on the vending machine snapped open and shut as the person retrieved his or her drink and turned to go back to wherever they came from.

"Oh, Yukio!"

Yukio's eyes snapped open, but other than that he didn't move.

Rin, hale and hearty, standing before him, holding a can of soda. Yukio's eyebrow twitched. He shouldn't be drinking that. It would just make him hyper and then put him to sleep. Again.

"Why are you wearing those clothes? Don't tell me you didn't even go to sleep?" Rin's brow furrowed. If that was the case, this wouldn't be the first time Rin had to drag his exhausted but determined twin to bed.

"…yeah…" Lying was no good anyway, Rin would just see right through it.

"Go sleep in your own bed." Rin popped open his can of soda and Yukio cracked open an eye at the sound. "Jeez, if you want to be slack, just let go all out. Don't do it in a…halfway place like this."

Yukio almost snorted. Halfway place?

Rin softened and took a sip from his soda. "Come on, Yukio. Rest. You're trying to do too much, helping everybody, but you're just going to end up tearing yourself down that way. Go to sleep."

"…mmhm." Just go away, nii-san. I'll just rest my eyes for a little bit and be on my way.

"…"

"…"

Ten seconds passed before the soda kicked in. "Okay," Rin declared, bouncing up. "Do you want nii-san to sing you to sleep or something? Because I'm going to drag you to bath and to bed myself. Come on, get up." Rin laid the soda down and started to yank a boneless Yukio up. Yukio flapped as Rin struggled to heave the boy who was half a head taller than him up. "Nggh! Man, Yukio, you've gotten heavy."

Finally giving up, Rin opted to drag Yukio by his arms down the hallway, his brother's legs dragging on the ground. "To…the bathroom you go!"

Rin had to wipe away some sweat when they finally reached the door of the bathroom. "Come on, Yukio, I'm sure you can clean yourself?"

No response. Rin gave Yukio a slight kick and Yukio went with the momentum, rolling into the bathroom.

Then a wicked smile crossed Rin's face.

Yukio awoke spluttering, the sudden sensation of cold water cascading down his face making his hands jerk towards his pistols. Then he saw Rin's devilish grin, and let his head loll back with a sigh.

"Okay, I'm leaving you in here for ten minutes! Don't drown yourself! And don't run away either!" Rin departed with a cheerful wave, going back up the hall to pick up his soda.

The cold water ran soothingly over all his scrapes and bruises, and Yukio remembered that while he was the one to patch his brother up after fights, Rin was the one who got Yukio out of fights and took care of him later, the one who dealt with all the tears, sniffles, dirt and wounds. Their father had just been watching by the side, worried and yet that little tinge of pride in his brow that his sons _knew_ how to take care of each other.

He must have anticipated that one day when he wouldn't be around to look after them any longer, when they would have to look after each other instead. The strong and the weak. The brash and the careful.

Brother and brother.

When 'daddy' became 'father', they were already on their path towards living without their father, their big oak tree.

Yukio closed his eyes and smiled, despite wanting to cry.

They would always remember their daddy.

But they could start to learn to live in a world without him too.

_**End**_

* * *

_**So. It's finished. I decided to have Yukio narrate the conclusion, because he's more likely to come to that conclusion than Rin (he isn't the type to really dwell on past things). Plus, I don't think Rin will ever really stop calling Shiro 'daddy'. :)  
**_

_**Shout out to everyone out there with a dead friend or family member, or just someone really close to you.**_

_**You will always remember him/her, and the sadness never really goes away, but you learn to live in a world without him/her. **_

_**Thank you for reading.**_


	4. Satan's Son

_**Bonus Chapter:**_

Three days later.

"Okay. Where do you guys want to go? We need to plan the route very carefully or we won't be able to see anything." Konekomaru, as usual, was the first one to leap in to be in charge of the planning.

"Kinkakuji, maybe?" Shima casually suggested. "It's a popular spot, after all."

"Okay." Konekomaru started to type everything down into his phone.

"Can we go somewhere where there's bean jam, kudzu starch noodles and sweets?" Shiemi.

"Maiko! Maiko!" Takara.

"The Fushimi Inari isn't a bad choice, if you ask me." Izumo.

"KYOOOOOTOOOOOOOO TOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEERR!" …and Rin.

Konekomaru looked bewildered. "Kyoto Tower? There're tons of better spots, you know?"

"Please!" Rin clapped his hands together in a begging gesture. "I've had my eye on it for a long time!"

Yukio and Ryuji simultaneously sighed, then looked at each other understandingly, Yukio with a 'this is what I deal with everyday' expression, and Ryuji's expression saying, 'You have my sympathies'.

Well, might as well have fun. "We will have to comply with him, since this is the wish of Satan's son. If we don't, we run the risk of being burned to ashes." Ryuji folded his arms, holding back a smirk that threatened to surface the second Rin looked away.

"Heeeeeey!" Rin protested, faking hurt.

Konekomaru went along with the joke. "Well, as it is Satan's son's choice, we have no choice."

"Koneko…not you too…"

In the end, they saved Kyoto Tower for the last, since if everything went according to schedule, they would arrive there just in time for sunset, and the view was said to be magnificent. Rin was bouncing with excitement at every spot, and Shiemi had to remind him to take his medicine every two hours. But when they reached Kyoto Tower, he practically exploded.

"…so that's how he gets so thin." Shima sighed, grinning as he watched Rin jump from booth to booth, window to window. "Where does he get all that energy from?"

"Whoa, this doll is really cool!"

Yukio sighed in fond amusement. "And there he goes again. Hopefully he doesn't break my wallet."

"…_GAK! Three thousand yen?!_"

In the end Rin had to settle with a keychain of five hundred yen. He gripped it tightly, wanting to make a request of his friends but being a little scared to. _Oh, little doll, lend me strength._

"Okay…guys…can you take a group picture with me here?" He blurted out.

Ryuji, who started the joke, went first. "We can't refuse, or Satan's son will burn us down."

"It's the order of Satan's son, we can't help it." Even Izumo was playing along.

"Even if you try to speak reservedly we all know that it's still a threat." Shima pulled a face.

"Let's do what Satan's son-" Rin cut Konekomaru's sentence in half. "How long are you going to do that?! Are you bullying me?"

"Well, it'd be a pity not to use it!" Shima laughed. "After all, it's one of your characteristics!"

Ryuji patted Rin on the back. "And you don't need to ask for permission every time." He smiled, more gently this time.

So they grabbed a passing tourist, who was kind enough to snap the photo for them. "Okay, on the count of three, everyone smile! One, two, three!"

_Click!_

"Creative poses." She commented as she handed the camera back.

"…OI! Is that meant to be Satan? And Yukio…not you too!"


End file.
